Sales vs Marketing: a love-hate relationship

As a marketer, having a strong collaborative relationship with the sales team is crucial for driving business growth and achieving shared objectives. However, it's a common challenge that often leaves marketers feeling frustrated. In a recent informal poll I've made on LinkedIn, over half of the marketers who responded cited the sales department as the most difficult to work with.

I then had further chats with some of these participants and former direct reports (all marketers), to gather some insights about their answers to the poll.

Point 1.

One recurring issue is the misalignment of expectations and priorities between the two teams. Sales are often hyper-focused on short-term revenue targets and may have unrealistic expectations for quick turnarounds on larger marketing projects or campaigns. On the flip side, marketers tend to have a more long-term, strategic outlook, aiming to build brand equity and nurture customer relationships.

"They are very short-term focused, whereas we think mid-to-long term," one marketer shared. "Sometimes it means marketing focuses investments in key moments of the year, which leaves some months a bit 'dead' or with an 'always on' support, which we are blamed for as not enough."

Point 2.

Another point of contention is the disconnect between sales incentives and marketing objectives. A sales person's compensation may be tied solely to net sales figures, regardless of which products or segment ranges they sell, in certain organisation. In contrast, marketing's goals could be centered around profitability and margin improvement, which may involve prioritising specific high-margin product lines. But these lines may not be easy or strategically helpful for the NAMs to push and reach the net sales goals. Their buyers may also be demanding for totally other ranges to be prioritised, which may be going against the brand strategy plan.

"Their incentives are often not relating to the actual marketing objectives" explained a marketer. "For example, they will be incentivized on net sales, whereas we would be targeted on improving the P&L, which is sometimes only possible by focusing on selling one sub-section of our range."

Point 3.

Furthermore, there seems to be a knowledge gap between the two functions. Some marketers expressed surprise at the sales team's lack of understanding of critical market dynamics, such as category insights, competitive landscape, and retailer perspectives. They mentioned that the sales team was really pushing their organisation's ranges and products, and not talking the language of the retailer by speaking from their point of view - the category. These comments came from more senior marketers. The damage of these pushy conversations can be really detrimental and favouring competitors who understand how to grow a category using the organisation's products will land as a stronger message.

To finish...

Overcoming these challenges requires a concerted effort from both sides. Marketers need to invest time in building strong partnerships with their sales counterparts, really creating an open communication and aligning on shared goals. Sales teams, on the other hand, should be willing to adopt a more strategic, category-focused mindset and appreciate the long-term value that marketing initiatives bring to the table.

As one marketer put it, "My current struggle is getting the sales teams to sell with a category-first mindset. 'Competitor product is rubbish' is not going to go down as well with the retailer as they think."

I'm working with Christopher Ong on looking at how we can bridge this divide, an essential piece for too many businesses to thrive in a fiercely competitive landscape. By finding common ground, respecting each other's strengths, and working collaboratively towards shared objectives, marketing and sales can become an unstoppable force that drives sustainable growth and success. Sounds easy when I write it like that, but there's a bit of work to do on both sides to start understanding each other, seeing each other's strengths and how to amplify the plan by simply doing that. More news on the topic in the next few months, please message me in the meantime if this resonates with you and you'd like to have a chat !

Speak soon,

Mags

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